How do I look for welding rod?

Question

I'm just finishing up a ring shawl, and I need to block it. There's faggoting where the edging joins the border, so I was thinking I could put blocking wires through there to make sure that the body of the shawl is properly square, as well as to give a nice base for the points of the edging. I might also put some in the yarn overs around the centre of the shawl, meaning that I'll need 8 2m blocking wires, and 4 shorter ones.

I know to use welding rod for this, but I don't actually know what I should be looking for. i.e. what phrase would I type into a search engine to find a store which would sell me some in the size I need?

Answer 1

Welding Shops and places that sell Oxygen/Acetelyne bottles and supplies. Sears and Home Depot both will have the welding rod. But I wouldn't use new welding rod for this purpose. It is way too expensive.

I use regular fence wire or tomato stakes for this. You can also get some really fine wooden dowels and cut them with the garden shears and they work even better. They are exactly the length you need. A little sand paper removes the splinters.

Answer 2

Harbor Freight or Tractor Supply has welding wire and welding rods.